Related Tags:

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — A popular spice this time of the year is ginger. You see a lot of gingerbread houses and ginger cookies in bakeries and grocery stores.

But what about adding that ginger flavor to some of your favorite holiday drinks?

Racheal Perron, the culinary expert at Kowalski’s Market, shared with WCCO an easy way to add ginger to all kinds of drinks.

Perron started by making a simple syrup, which is made from equal parts water and sugar.

“Boil it to get water hot so that you can dissolve the sugar,” she said. “We are going to put in some peeled sliced ginger root. Let it steep like a tea for about 30 minutes to get that ginger flavor infused into the syrup.”

After the steeping process is finished, Perron says you should strain it and store it. It’s good for up to a week.

“You can put it in all sorts of hot beverages — hot tea, coffee, mocha, a hot chocolate,” she said. “You can use the hot syrup right away or you can chill it and use it in iced tea or lemonade.”

Of course, there’s always the option to use that simple syrup in cocktails. It mixes well with vodka or tequila. And, of course, there’s the good old standby: the martini.

To make a ginger martini, you should mix a little bit of the ginger syrup with some freshly squeezed lime juice and vodka in a cocktail shaker filled with ice.

“Then shake, shake, shake. You want to get it nice and cold, make sure everything is mixed together,” Perron said.

Strain the mix out into a cocktail glass and you have a delicious and seasonal holiday drink.

Another option Perron showed WCCO was a ginger margarita. That drink again uses simple syrup and freshly squeezed lime juice, this time mixed with tequila and a splash of Cointreau. Pour that into a glass rimmed with a little bit of sugar.